American homes in flood zones are overvalued by hundreds of billions of dollars, according to a study published in February in the journal Nature Climate Change. Low-income homeowners in states controlled by Republicans are especially at risk of seeing their home values deflate as global warming accelerates.
Flooding is a costly and deadly natural hazard across the United States. For decades, the Federal Emergency Management Agency offered flood insurance at discounted rates, incentivizing developers to build houses in flood-prone areas. The agency’s flood maps are also notoriously outdated. That has led to a dangerous situation for homeowners as they grapple with year after year of debilitating floods.
The study, published by a group of academic, nonprofit, and government organizations that include the Environmental Defense Fund and the Federal Reserve, revealed that homes in flood zones are overvalued by as much as $237 billion.
The researchers found that coastal property owners and homeowners in states that have inadequate or nonexistent flood disclosure laws, such as […]
I am on the other side of that coin, so to speak. I cannot get a reverse HEMC lone because my home does not meet their qualifications of having a home worth at least $130,000 to qualify. I think the poor are disinfranchised because we are not rich enough to get what we need to survive.The poor are getting screwed every day, in every way here in America. I am sick of it, but cannot do anything about it!
The study cited indicates: “ subsidization of National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) premiums and climate-agnostic mortgage lending practices have created distorted price signals by transferring flood-related costs away from property owners15.” This is the root of the problem. The wealthy have been able to insulate themselves while the rest of us as tax payers pay the cost.